of wyomissing



March26, 19 29. M. ZWICKY ET AL 1,706,645

DRIVE FOR FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES Origifxal Filed May 19, 1927IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY-S.

Patented Mar. 26,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELCHIOR ZWICKY, OI BERKSHIRE HEIGHTS, AND EMIL RICHTER, OF WYOMISSING,

IBENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO TEXTILE MACHINE WORKS, PENNSYLVANIA, ACORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

OI WYOMISSING,

nnfvn r03; runn-rasnronnn-xmrrme MACHINES.

Application filed May 19, 1927, Serial No. 192,716. Renewed February 13,1929.

The invention relates particularly to multiple section full-fashionedknitting machines, in. which movements of. like parts of each section ofthe machine are effected at required intervals through a commonlongitudinal cam shaft; the object in view being to practicallyeliminate ob'ectionable effects of the torsional shaft strains commonlyincident to such operation, and ,to advantageously care for thenecessary strains with avoidance of vibrations and withoutobjec-'tionably affecting the general construction provided to meet, theoperating requirements of such machines.

Economies in construction and operation are obviously effected byemploying a number of like sections combined in a single machine soas tosimultaneously (produce a corresponding number of like pro ucts such asfull fashioned stockings. The resulting increased len th of the machinehowever naturally calfs particularl for increased strength in thelongitudinaf shafts through which the operations in the differentsections are required to be simultaneously effected; and practicablevariations in the construction of the machine are limited by the variousfunctionings and general structural requirements. The presentimprovements provide in an advantageous way for minimizing the size andweight of the commonly re uired longitudinal shafts, and particular y ofthe cam shaft which has multiplied service put upon it and which isrequired also to be adjusted longitudinally for effecting certain of theo erations; and this is accomplished essentia 1y by the employment of aspecial torsion-taking countershaft advanta eousl mounted in the rigidlysupporte base ortion of the machine so as to practically e iminatevibrations, as fully described in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the novel construction being clearly defineddn the subjoinedclaim;

Fig. 1 is a artly cross-sectional end elevation of a ful fashionedknittin showing the frame structure and indicating my invention inconnection with immediately cociperating parts commonly employed.

g. 2 is a diagrammatic viewindicating connections of the several shaftsmachine ture as sufficiently shows the usual relation of the commonlemployed hand-wheel shaft 0 and'the cam s aft D; bothof which shaftsextend the full length of the multiple-section machine as indicated inFig. 2, so'as to serve the several sections, The cam shaft D is providedat different portions of its length with required cams for the differentsections, a

and is automatically adjusted lengthwise at intervals, as usual; whilethe hand-wheel shaft C enables hand control of the machine as requiredand at the same'time overcomes irregularities of motion by its fly wheeleffect. The shaft C is conveniently located insure satisfactorilyuniform action in, the 5 different sections, and alsocauses veryob- 1jectionable vibrationsyand the manner of gearing them together ispractically restricted by the requisite general construction of themachine with its, complicated, functionings. a I have found that theroblem of insuring uniform cam actionwit minimum weight of these v tallyoperative long shaftsC and p v D, and with practical elimination ofobjectionable vibrations, is satisfactorily solved by providing a s cialtorsional-taking shaft E near the .rigi base of the machine; this shaftE being readily made shorter than the shafts C and 'D, of any requiredcross-sectional vstrength, and rigidly mounted; and the gearing'of it tothe cam shaft D being so arranged as to distribute the operating strainsfor most effectively eliminating torsional as'well as vibratin effects.In Fig. 2 the two parallel shafts and D are indi cated as extending thefull 'length of the multiple section machine, while low-down" parallelcounter-shaft E is considerably shortened; the hand-wheel shaft 0 at thetop .of the machine being motor driven as usual, preferably through acentrally located drive gear F thereon, and having a closely adjacentgear G' from which the low-down counter-shaft E is driven, a chain 10being geared to countershaft E by three pairs of gears H', H, H, whichare widely spacedemployed to drive the latter as indicated in Fig. 2.The intermediate cam shaft D is apart longitudinally of the shafts so asto evenlydistribute the rotating action trans mitted to the severallengthwise portions of e be done by said portions.

the cam shaft D in accord with the work to These several drivingconnections between the shaft E and the vitally important cam shaft D,greatly reduce torsional effect upon the latter, and insure uniform camaction in allthe sections even with comparatively light weight in theoccur. The convenience with which this lowdown torsion-taking shaft maybe satisfactorily applied tothe essential-machine structure is also ofpractical importance.

What we claim is In a multiple section full fashioned knitting machinecomprising a longitudinal cam shaft for all the sections and a parallelhandwheel shaft therefor mounted above said camshaft; a paralleltorsion-takingcountershaft mounted in the base portion of the machineframe below said cam shaft, a motor drive-wheel and a take-off drivewheel for said countershaft adjacently mountedon said hand-wheel shaft,and a plurality of longitudinally spaced driven gear connections betweensaid countershaft and cam shaft. p v i p In testimony whereof we afiixour signatures.

MELOHIOR ZW'ICKY. EMIL RICHTER.

